School Board Meeting - 6/18/2024

001e e e good evening everybody like to call the meeting to order could we all rise pledge of [Music] pleas I flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands one nation indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you would like to tell everybody just to make sure there is a sign in sheet going around so please sign in on the sign in sheet thank you for that um I we'll read again as of I think it's on our website but uh just to remind everybody of policy 903 on our on our public speaking uh we did try to be graceful tonight and allow 15 speakers tonight uh there is we in our policy there's a 30 minute time a lot for that so 15 speakers are actually going to

002take about an hour their time has been cut to 3 minutes a person I know there were some people that were not happy about the time cut I do apologize for that I hope you understand that we are allowing about another half hour of speaking so uh we will run the timer on that I appreciate your uh efforts and keeping to your time of 3 minutes thank you um uh board members I would like to remind you of some board etiquette please uh last meeting there was some sidebar conversations remember your mics are hot everybody can hear you so uh please keep your conversations at a very very minimum and uh please pay attention when the speakers are speaking and also board members could you please speak into the mics clearly uh so we can

003hear everything down here uh for the minutes please can we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss here M Jalal here Mrs Halal here Mr lustic presid Mrs plank here Mr Walmer here Mr Wile here Miss Young cover here Mr lady here thank you we did have an executive session tonight started at 5:30 uh was discussed safety legal and personel issues could I get a motion to approve the minutes for the board meeting on 5 2124 so moved hold on a minute sorry I got to back up can I get a motion to approve the agenda for tonight so moved is there a second second we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halo yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr White yes Miss Young cover

004yes Mr lady I thank you now could I have approval to approve the minutes for board meeting on [Music] 521242 24 and the minutes of our business and operations committee meeting on 6424 so moved second Motion in a second could I have a roll call please Mrs k yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halo yes Mr letic hi Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wigel yes Miss Young cover yes Mr lady hi thank you this will take us uh we have no delegation or delegation tonight so this will take us right to public comment I will add on your list if you're looking at the minutes uh Mr ratowski was on the list to speak got caught out of town for an emergency uh so his uh email and comments will be on in the

005correspondence so that will take us right to McKinley lens good evening before I start I just wanted to apologize for my close I was stering with the high school team to go to immediately after I speak but I felt that it was important that I took this opportunity to be here my name is McKinley lens I'm 13 years old I'm going into n care here at goal high school thank you for giving me the opportunity to to speak with you tonight on May 21st my mom brought me here to the school board meeting while I must admit that at first I was less than excited in the end I am grateful that I came because I quickly saw how much of what you guys were saying could directly affect me honestly I was surprised to

006hear what the Schoolboard members were saying it was that at that meeting that I decided that it was important that I came and talk to you today during the meeting you said that he sent out a survey to families to find out why they were leaving and then said it was because of them being bullied for being cons however Miss Graham was able to prove that this was not the case in our district you heard back from two families and they did not leave because they were bullied for the Christian views you said that teachers are leaving because they are forced to call students by other pronouns or different names but where is the proof in this I am more concerned that we are going to lose some of the best teachers at this District

007class because of what you are doing right now have you seen how many teachers are attending these meetings have you seen them standing CLA in opposition to ilc you are supposed to be supporting in helping our school to be a better place but it seems you are creating fear and teachers and students not alleviating it we have 1,540 students enrolled in our district instead of sending a survey out to 14 families you should be sending a survey out to those students their families School Employees and the tax taxpayers of our school district asking them what they feel the issues and concerns are out our school take the results of that survey look into the issues and concerns that upper ad Community has not your own personal agendas I heard from you say that you're concerned

008about what pronouns a child wants to be called or what a child wants her name to be but what does that matter to me it matters more than the kind of student they are shouldn't we be more concerned about how students treat each other how respectful students are to adults including School staff that they follow the school rules try hard are kind helpful caring and care about their education than if they want to use a different pronoun or name I listen to you say you want ilc to come right to your policies for you and heard over and over again is free and so it doesn't matter even I as a kid have learned many times that nothing is free listening to the ilc talk reminded me of a talk my mom had of me

009growing up she told me if anyone offered me free candy money or free puppies not to go with them as it was a method to trick and lure kids it was dangerous we should be suspicious of the ilc for the same reason how is the ilc different from those people that my mom warned me about as a kid I could clearly see how bad they would be for my school how is as an adult can you not see this they will not be free there are policies of Z and lawsuit that will cost us money money that we do not have you said that we are in a cultural war and you do not pay about the cost well I do because that cost will not affect you but it will affect me the school

010will not be able to afford art music Sports and other programs for the students because we were paying off about 30 seconds goad about 30 oh sorry we were paying off those lawsuits and the money award to the people who brought the lawsuits my education will not be as good as the one my sister had because the good teachers will be leading and no good new teachers will want to come to a school dealing with the ISC and law students I am asking tonight when you vote for the ilc that you vote not to bring them into my school I'm asking that you look at me and think about all the students you'll be heard me if you say yes to the ilc I ask that you leave your personal agenders out of our school

011and instead worry about the majority of the community teachers and students once a week thank you next Miss Leslie Leslie [Music] Callahan since becoming involved with the usad USD 34 years ago my husband and I have been very pleased with the district and the school board even when class read is ugly head we felt that the school board had the best interest of the community at the Forefront of their decisions and serve the community well the current School Board is not serving the community at all a certain faction has a Personal Agenda that does not reflect the wants or needs of the community one board member decided to rewrite policy 1091 without involving or Consulting his fellow board members he believes that he and he alone knows what's best for all the students and parents

012of uasd I am outraged and personally resent the implication that I am incapable of making an informed intelligent decision he wants to dictate to me and all parents what all uasd students can or cannot read it is certainly not my business what his student reads nor is his business what other students read and the tables were turned and he was told his student must read books that he objects to wouldn't he be just as outraged as we are parents should have the first last and only word concerning what they feel is appropriate for their students right now there is a perfectly good system that guarantees parents are in control there is no need to change it concering the ilc again one person took it upon herself to contact to contact the ilc again without involving

013her board members she stated that she had questions about policy and wanted clarification she could have asked the current board solicitor but that wouldn't have given her the chance to align the board with a Conservative Christian law f as she herself said there's nothing wrong with biring a Conservative Christian but as another Conservative Christian board member pointed out we are a public school we must serve all students not just the conservative Christians and please he the warning from these two school districts thank you so much for covering the story the poort council from the ilc is exactly what led to the law students that the central Buck School District experienced last year for the discriminatory discriminatory practices this also led to the sweeping to seat of the conservative school board members in the November election

014why conservative members of the upper Adam School District would want to drag the community through such a painful and costly experience is telling of their inability to lead the district the central Buck School District shelled out over 2 million legal expenses stemming from their decisions to discriminate against lgbtq students and teachers the district paid 1.75 to defend themselves million against uh anti-lgbtq allegations and then spend an additional 400,000 to settle a lawsuit against the teacher for retaliation and this is a little closer to home this Law Firm the ilc is not ethical or free they encourage school districts to adopt policies knowing they are legally shaky and then when those policies are challenged they defend a school district for a substantial fee it's a setup to hook school boards into promoting policies to encourage them

015to pay the freight to promote their own ideology about 20 years ago the Dober School District was encouraged to compel the biology teachers to teach this type of creationism and to diminish the teaching of evolution the federal judge who handled the ensuing litigation found that the policy was adopted to compel teaching the religious beliefs of the board and this was based on admissions to W pardon going need to wrap it up I have two more sentences this cost taxpayers at least 2 million taxes had to be increased to cover this cost uper should not fall for this thank [Applause] you uh next is the Upper Adams Teachers Association good evening for those of you that don't know who I am my name is Michelle Miller I teach ja here and I'm also representing the uaea

016today as their president I'll keep it under three minutes I promise all right so our questions to you are why bio we the Upper Adams Education Association represent all professional Educators within the district and welcome the opportunity to work excuse me collaboratively with Administration and school board members to create Andor revise current policies as needed we are here to express our concern with the board entering into a contract with the independence Law Center the Upper Adams Education Association does not see a need for such a contract entering into an agreement with the LIC could destroy the relationships within our community and our staff and our students the upper Adam's Educators have worked hard to cultivate and restore all relationships so every everyone can feel safe and welcome in our schools bringing in an outside organization

017risk spoiling these established relationships and could create division where there is currently none as Educators we design research-based curricula and Implement educational best practices to support the district's mission to provide challenging and inspiring educational opportunities empowering each student to be a responsible and productive individual parents and fam has trust us to create a safe and inclusive learning environments for everybody that attends here Upper Adams school district has a very rich history of being recognized at State and National levels in many areas including but not limited to academics agriculture the Arts Athletics and music The District clearly has the ingredients for Success uasd has high achieving students quality teachers dedicated Administration engaged Ames active community members and involved school board members the Upper Adams Education Association does not believe that the independence Law Center is needed

018because number one we have highly qualified professionals who provide rigorous standards based instruction number two we have an administrative that supports their professional Educators number three we create a safe place for all students number four we have student academic success number five we have outstanding Sports and extracurricular programs number six we have a community that cares and is involved and number seven our currently our current policies Inspire and Empower all of the Upper Adams School District students so when the Upper Adams Education Association is ask is the independence Law Center needed here in Upper Adams our answer is simply no thank you [Applause] [Music] Rachel Elliot hello my name is Rachel Elliott and I am a member of the Upper Adams Community cares in an effort to find out how the community feels about our

019district using the independence Law Center we ran a survey on Facebook as as well as collected signatures for a petition regarding the survey on Facebook we asked are you in favor of the upper Adam School District retaining and or using the independence Law Center when the survey ended 227 responded no and five responded Yes it was posted in two local groups Bigler villain surrounding areas and the artsville Community page of the community members who responded it was overwhelmingly showing that the community is not in favor of the school district using using the independence Law Center if there are any concerns with our poll the district should run their own poll as they have done in the past I only ask that the survey results are presented in an honest and with transparency speaking of transparency

020have you received a contract from the independence Law Center if so why haven't you shared the terms of the contract with the public if not why are you even voting on using their services without knowing what the school district may or may not be held liable for when using their services the platform many of you ran on last year was to empower the parents not to empower the viewpoints of a select group to me parental rights is giving parents the control over their child's education that is what our current policies provide to parents in comparison the independence Law Center policies have cost other districts Millions with their policy changes for example pen Ridge School District used the ilc policies and is now paying out over $1 million in legal fees and had 71 staff and

021administration resigned not including par professionals can Upper Adams afford this is this how you're showing the district that you are fiscally responsible I brought with me over 500 signatures from residents in the community who oppose our school using the services of the independence Law Center we will continue to collect signatures of the community members who want to voice their objections to the upper Adam School District using the ilc I want to thank everyone who has signed our petition and the members who knocked on doors around the community to get these signatures we have found this to be not be a partisan issue it's apparent that our community is against the district using this Law Group I implore you to vote no on working with the independence Law Center thank you for your time [Applause] Kelly

022pel hi I'm Kelly po Tom Wilson wanted to read his own letter tonight um but he's out of town and we felt these words should be shared publicly Tom and I met when we were on opposing sides he is board president and I am a negotiating team for our teachers we had differences of opinion but we had respect for and trusted each other and I think trust in this board will be determined by tonight's vote I'll summarize Tom's three important points one board members are elected officials and as such they represent all the people of the district those who voted for them those who didn't vote for them and those who didn't or can't vote as their representatives you must listen to their views the overwhelming majority of the community as evidenced by 100% of

023those speaking at recent board meetings do not want ilc retained other than mral Mr letic and possibly Mr W I have heard no one speak for retaining ilc if the board votes to retain them they saying the desires of the majority of their constituents are secondary to board members personal agendas as recently as 2017 the district raised taxes 5.63% and used 97% of the UN assigned fund to balance the budget in the ensuing s years through the efforts of the administration and the board the district is now on solid Financial footing the district has even enjoyed four years of zero tax increase while still delivering quality education to the community's children Miss jaal stated on the record if lawsuits follow the retention of ilc it's okay let it cost she said demonstrating gross fiscal irresponsibility

024and a complete disregard for the financial needs of this community all in the pursuit of Personal Agenda that statement is diametrically opposite from what is generally considered conservatism which she's so publicly professed and three trust keeps years to build and seconds to lose since March board has discussed and public has commented on policy 1091 then the topic of retaining ilc was approached and Miss Jalal stated she contacted ilc in November which was before she was sworn in why would a School director elect to contact a law for firm when she had little to no experience or training on the workings of her District the answer might be in statement made by Mr wle at the May 21 board meeting when he stated a boy entered the girls restroom his daughter occupied I conclude the policy

0251091 discussion is merely a subterfuge to disguise the real reason to retain ISC which is that they have a history of challenging court rulings on transgender issues tell the community the truth but also tell them that title 9 is Law and that each of you swore a solemn oath to follow the law whether you agree with it or not the avenue to change law is the general assembly or Congress and not school board without trust the public May reasonably expect the board might be hiding other things I urge you not to retain ilc the community is united in their opposition to it retaining ilc will eventually add unanticipated expenses damage your relationship with the community you represent and do irreparable harm to your reput reputations sincerely Tom thank you for your time bar balov ladies

026and gentlemen I'm here this evening um as a lifelong resident of Adam County and 66 years as a resident of our gr School District I write this letter I write this with a heavy heart as I have been following the discussions regarding the changes to policy 109.2 and the retaining Andor Consulting of Independence Law Center I grew up in the upper Adam School District my children and I went to school at Upper Adams my youngest son graduated with honors in the top 10% of his class and was accepted and graduated from bunell University based on his educational accomplishments at Upper Adams Upper Adams provided him all the resources he needed which included great Educators access to the school's libraries with books decided on by Librarians and our teachers and most importantly the fact that we

027as parents had a say in his education the Upper Adams school board over the years has been exemplary and and listening to the advice of our amazing staff uper ads including administrators teach teachers Librarians support staff parents and upat Community residents it is very troubling that suddenly we are hearing that those that Ser that served on the board before you and their hard and all their hard work to establish policies say 1091 is in Jeopardy and that an outside Law Firm that knows nothing about our school our students and the families of our community that I personally and continue to commit my life work to for nearly 60 years want to step in and bring about a change that's not needed I watched llc's ic's presentation on what time what they can bring Robert Adams

028on YouTube several times none of it makes sense they will not share who their donors are for their provent service and that is a worry in itself if we don't know where the money is coming from how do we know it's even good money a good honest benefactor would be proud to say they helped so that raises questions for me since the last school board meeting I learned that other districts that have allowed them to come are now facing horrible consequences we cannot allow this to happen to uper School District I truly believe if it's not broke don't fix it I'm asking you the upper Adam School Board to please follow the wishes of our community do not contract retain or consult Independence Law Center and please do not change policy 109.2 which threatens parental

029rights and our children's Futures thank you Nathan Christian Christenson hello this is oh sorry guys this is my first time pretty introverted person myself so I apologize little weird also to point out it's weird that a guy with a gun just walks through the door security no one greets him he doesn't know where he's supposed to be that I don't know if somebody checked him in to make sure he's official that was just weird to me as a person watching a guy not knowing where he's supposed to be having a gun in the school but anyways um when I first out found out that the school district uh was bringing up a register hate group uh to ban books in my school I I was shocked I I in the four years of living here

030I I did not see this hate being in this District um so I felt I needed to to take action and in the past two weeks all of the voting residents I've spoke with uh and what little board members would actually speak to me I see very little support for the use of ilc so much so that I I I don't even understand why why we're here to be honest um but I I do think the more I learn it's out of uh misguided hope and ignorance um that is being fed by the con artist group The Independent Law Center with every action that we take there are always consequences whether unintended or intended whether thought about or not and I don't believe that these have been thought about um I would appreciate every a

031member of the board um if I bring up a topic and you've thought about it if you wouldn't mind raising your hand um has anyone here spoke to their friends and neighbors whether or not they want the ilc in this District I am your neighbor Heather you did not I spoke to your neighbors I spoke to your friends they're not aware of this I met a wonderful lady in a store over the weekend she says she has two very close friends in the school in the school board and had no idea that the use of ilc was on the table why would your close friend not know this is being recorded So line is only going to make you look bad um who hears research any positive results of banning books out of order what

032who here is contacted colleges to see if a student coming from a school with banned books hurts their entrances out of order St who here is contacted other districts that use the ilc out of order ask the you have you have 40 seconds Sir all right well I was unaware that the board didn't care but I guess it was F to answer so they realized it was embarrassing then it's a problem to answer there is clear that no actual effort or education was put into this and anybody that votes for it is doing out of pure ignorance and misguided hope I strongly recommend you show your District who you are and what you're made of [Applause] Jack Christian my apologies he didn't bring his PO with him because he didn't get the email that he

033was allowed if he be bumed to the end I can run out to my car and grab it it's got to be his own comment going to be his own comment yeah it has to be directly from him it's his poem that he wrote you it he feels uncomfortable without having in front of him every speaker here who was an adult had their letter I didn't bring his in because I didn't get an email confirmation allow okay if you could present that here to put into our correspondence that would be great absolutely I gra it now then that will take us to Tiffany Waltz good evening my name is Tiffany Waltz our children are our members of the class of 2023 and 2025 respectively I have been an improved volunteer with the operatum school district

034and many other youth organizations since 2009 I only stopped as my multiple sorosis made it less practical I gave of my of my time for of for 14 years for the kids not just my kids all of the kids that is why I am a founding member of Upper Adams Community cares and requested Booth space at cannibal there are so many kids that still refer to me as Miss Tiff Aubrey's mom or Austin's mom I've always been a safe place to support and Mentor every child regardless of their race religion economic background or family makeup they know that unless they're going to hurt themselves or someone else I'm here to listen and to help if needed the board's consideration of bringing ilc Independence Law Center into our district as a second opinion is a mistake

035shouldn't we be keeping policies in place that protect all of the students instead of proposing changes that will violate their constitutional rights I acknowledge that everyone has the right to religious freedoms and religious objections that is part of the US Constitution but I do not feel that religious objection should be applied to all the students in a public school setting if you are concerned about our current library book selection process student access to potentially inappropriate content or concerns about transgender student rights and policies I need to remind you of the numerous school jurist districts that have had to undergo lengthy and embarrassing litigation proceedings often ending with teachers or administrators resigning or large settlements in favor of claimants as their con IAL rights were infringed upon by policies that the ilc has given their pro

036bono advice I find it very ironic that as soon as Mr s of ilc presented his statements he very quickly collected his belongings and left the auditorium what did you think we were going to Tar and feather him I am not a bully nor have I ever been a bully I feel that there is a time and a place for intelligent conversation even if it's in Discord we are standing up for the rights of all of our children I first bringing on ilc as a costly mistake therefore it is my constitutional right and my duty as a mother and a member of the upper rans Community to stand up and say this is not right I do not disagree I disagree so please vote now thank you for your time [Music] [Applause] Dr Matthew schroer

037good evening board members and community members uh I am Matthew Schroeder I am a graduate of Biglerville High School I moved away for college and graduate school I chose to come back to this community to work and raise a family since returning I'm now a business owner and a proud parent of three thriving beautiful children who are enrolled in this District I'm here to discourage the board from Contracting for legal council with the independence Law Center the idea that the ilc will uh protect and serve the interests of all students in the district is flatly wrong and any attempt to make the people of this community believe so is deliberately misleading Common Sense tells us otherwise one does not have to embark on intensive investigation to discover this though we have uh merely to look

038at their website the ilc is a special interest group it is the legal advocacy arm of the Pennsylvania Family Institute a religious organization and special interest lobbyist these two organizations are the same the office of the ilc is in the PA Family Institute Building with the same address ilc Chief counsel Randall wayer is the Chief Operating Officer of the Pennsylvania family Alliance a glance at the ilc mission statement says nothing about protecting all children or improving our schools what it does state is support for politically conservative principles of pro-life and freedom to exercise religion and a goal to I quote this is direct Advance these and other truths through advocacy in courts of law these are not Centrist views these are two of the most polarizing and intensely debated issues in all of American politics

039and the truths of Mr Winger and the ilc are not shared by the majority of Americans nor by the majority of of members of this community in the US there are 1.3 over 1.3 million uh active lawyers less than 1% of these have argued cases before The Supreme Court Mr Winger has been there uh two or three times not about the schools yet but always about his religious agenda this is an activist Law Firm seeking to forward its own conservative Rel ious agenda through decisions in the courts it's in their mission statement the ic's interest in school boards and school policies is not to protect all students or to keep schools out of the courts through good policy as ilc Council uh Mr samic stated in this Auditorium but rather its goal is the opposite

040to forward its interest by dragging schools into the courts as its mission statement implies uh I'm a Christian my grandfather and two of my uncles were ordained ministers and I was raised in the church my Christianity informs my worldview and I understand that it is not Universal and therefore has no place in government policy or public education but rather in my private life and public interactions Republican however I disagree with the methods of the ilc and its socially conservative agenda thank you for your coming [Applause] candy long good evening my name is Candy long and I'm a resident of the operad school district I have three children who graduated from this district and three grandchildren who are currently enrolled in this District I'm speaking to you tonight as a taxpayer and a grandmother thank you

041for allowing me to share my thoughts and feelings first of all I would like to say that I am confused I am confused as to why we are even having a disc discussion about bringing in another Law Firm no matter who that firm would be everyone has admitted that stockam leader has done a fine job for our district they have supported us in all our legal needs including making sure policies we are ready are following state and federal regulations if you want to review a policy review it revise it if you think it is necessary but continue to work with the law firm that has served us well why would we even consider bringing in a law firm that is controversal IAL and has led to many problems for other districts as I was thinking

042about what I wanted to say tonight I went back to the platforms that were published in the gettsburg times back in October the platforms that you ran on there were two major points that kept coming up parental rights and transparency you said you wanted to be an advocate for parents rights to protect the rights of parents as the primary Educators you said you wanted transparency to encourage an open dialogue between the school board and all of its stakeholders look at this audience you have their open dialogue people are talking the problem is you don't seem to be listening please be transparent with us please be honest why did you reach out to the ilc to begin with please tell us is it because you want to revise a policy to say that a child biologically

043born a male cannot be referred to as a sheep or a child whose official name is Joseph cannot be called Joanne or that a family unit cannot have two mommies or two daddies so we are not going to recognize it please be honest and if this is the case where does it end will you also create a policy that says a child with autism cannot stem or that the child with ADHD cannot have preferential seating we don't really know do we in your platform you stated that you will do your best to do what is right for children and public education that means all children in one meeting I heard someone say they wanted to retain the ilc because you wanted our policies to keep our children safe but will any child really be safe

044if we do retain the ISC I think our answer is no finally let's think about that statement let it cost do you realize it is our children's lives that you are gambling with if we let it cost the people that is going to be the most detrimental to is our children the your platform St you wanted to improve the quality of Education you wanted Upper Adams to grow as a beacon there will be no blowing and no improving if we met at cost you also stated you wanted to heal divisions but you are not healing divisions you are creating them I need to wrap it up ma'am please do not use this District our children to fight your own personal battles please vote no to rain the independence Law Center thank you [Applause] Deb adamic

045I'm sorry I skipped over Ben Adam Ben Ben wank I'm sorry thank you for the opportunity to speak to you all today I stand before you as a proud graduate of Biglerville High School a member of our community who strongly opposes involving the independence Law Center and the creation of District policy after reviewing a YouTube recording of the May school board meeting and following up more about what ilc is and their mission as CED our district which you all have been entrusted with the guidance and leadership as a critical crossroads reading from the district Miss mission statement the school board has itself with in your own words preparing students with a variety of skill sets to be equipped for an everchanging Global Society in a myriad of ways formly aligning our district with ilc in

046the creation of these policies is restricting the skill sets of our young people as we prepare them for an everchanging Global Society we don't have the ability to sculpt the everchanging global Society to our liking or to our comfort as one board member suggested in a recent meeting restricting students access to those things which make you as an individual on as a board member uncomfortable um or nervous not only assumes that these students are incapable of thinking pragmatically and independently for themselves like the intelligent young adults that we know them to be but is an impediment to them acquiring that variety of skill sets which you hope to equip them and while the district is promising students a safe clean secure and supportive environment as is also mentioned in the mission statement to acquire these

047skills the word you don't see in the mission statement is Comfort having your beliefs challenged at any stage of your life journey is a discomfort that's unavoidable and provides the opportunity for growth only through this growth will the students of our district acquire that variety of skill sets to be equipped for an everchanging Global Society the mission is just but these recent considerations suggest to me that your commitment to this part of your mission is wavering at this critical Crossroads we in need of strong leadership for all students of the district thank you for the opportunity to speak now Mrs Deb Adam good evening I'm de abck retired 40-year leadership professional who has lived in Adams County for 30 years raised my daughter in the Upper Adams School District and I'm an upper Adams taxpayer

048my leadership expertise has come from a unique career as a trainer coach and consultant in leadership best practices I am here to say that I am against making the proposed changes to the book policy 109.2 the changes proposed are not consistent with the current mission statement I'm strongly against engaging the ilc group given their unwillingness to answer several important questions one mostly most importantly is sharing your donor list I worked for a nonprofit for 14 years you shared your donor list and I feel that this board given the current situation should postpone any decisions and work board development an effective School Board is important you have five new school board members there's always a transition and this is a critical time to reflect and establish a clear set of objectives and procedures for setting priorities

049making decisions and fulfilling the roles and expectations of the community I've attended the past three meetings and observed the following let's take some a look at the specific issues at hand the book review policy 10 19.1 a policy Review Committee was looking for the current book looking at the current book review policy as a routine review there had not been any recent complaints to cause urgency for this review however one individual board member decided to draft a rewrite of the policy on its own as a result the established committee process review was disregarded and the respect and Trust of the committee teachers parents and Community was damaged observation two the legal Independence Center again a situation where an individual board member decided she would engage an outside nonprofit group before taking her questions and concerns

050to the existing upper Adam's legal firmer board which should have been a full board discussion with the community in addition turned into creating an emotionally charged exchange with the community undermining effective listening and objective dialogue for a Sound Decision observ observation three both of these situations were conducted in a non- team fashion and have undermined the credibility and effectiveness of the board 30 seconds Miss Adam as illustrated by the recent Community attendance at your board meetings in this highly politically polarized time in our countries is critical that any community service organization or board create and abide by strong leadership ethics and policies that establish Unity trust and respect in closing I recommend that before any major school policies are changed this board prioritizes their own Effectiveness as a new team a strongly I strongly recommend

051setting priorities around how the board should work together as an effective leadership team we share goals values and a clear decision-making process the psba should be available to help as a resource to help this board as it goes through a new board transition it's normal it's hard but it's normal thank you Janet Mendes hello my name is Janet mandz the other day I ran into someone who reminded me why I should be here tonight it was the realtor who sold my parents their home I told him the lasting impact he had on us and retold him this story on why the summer after third grade my parents had decided to follow their American dream and buy a home my brother and I were so so excited to see this house the owner took one look

052at us and said what are you doing here you can't afford this house I almost believed her without hesitation our realtor responded Yes they can we're here to see the house as we entered he stayed behind and spoke to the owner I'm not sure what he said but she was a lot nicer after that we often joke it was at that moment my mom decided she was going to buy the house and she did before that moment when it came to disparaging comments about race no one had stood up for me especially not someone who looked nothing like me before that moment as a woman as a minority I was taught to be afraid keep quiet not draw attention to myself obviously that's changed I tell you this story because while asking people in the

053Hispanic Community to sign the petition opposing the independence Law Center I encountered so many people who were still afraid these taxpayers these homeowners were afraid of being targeted afraid of ruining their American dream so I'm here tonight to stand up for those that are afraid those who stay silent tonight you have a choice to make will you vote no regarding the retention of the independence Law Center will you stand up for the students parents teachers administrators will you remember your fiscal responsibility will will you listen to the community who elected you or will you vote Yes and continue to oppress silence and divide 30 seconds 25 years later I remember who stood up for me I guarantee 25 years from now the students will remember who stood up for them the community will remember who

054gambled with their tax increases it is at this time I invite all those who are against the district retaining the independence Law Center to stand up with me we stand thank you to all our public speakers um that'll take us to correspondents and under correspondence we have Cindy Kane Jonathan pno Christian Parker and Jack Christ Christensen and also James ratowski um their emails and comments will be in our corresponden and available public view that'll take us to reports uh Li report Dr doll just a few things to um update everyone on um those of you may know or may not know that there is a health center that has been implemented at the IU and they gave um they gave some statistics recently from July 1st 2022 through December 31st 2023 um they have seen

055the utilization of 41% of their employees engaging in the use of that facility there are also some new officers that were elected for the July 1st 2024 through June 30th 2025 session president Todd Gat Gettys uh vice president Sally quar and then uh treasur Cassandra ligins secretary will be Brent Kesler and then the next meeting will be held at the IU on Tuesday June the 25th 2024 at 700 p.m. those are some of the updates from the I any questions for Dr do thank you sir Federal programs Mr Alin yes good evening everyone just a real quick update tonight if you want to pull it up on your agenda manager just so you can see the numbers we did get our new numbers for 2425 uh going forward um unfortunately it's not the greatest news

056uh that we've had in the past years there was a $30 million cut in federal programs across the state of Pennsylvania so if you look at the chart on your screens you'll see Title One is down 2,297 from last year title two is down 9,511 and title 3 7,483 so that totals about $40,000 in change as you'll see there as a decrease from last year however title 4 did go up as you can see about $1,800 so if we add that into the deficit we're looking at about $ 38,43 uh decrease from last year so that will cut back on some of our uh offerings that we have uh but we're still going to uh have a very strong Federal programs uh working with Dr Boer today on getting title three finalizing we should be

057able to submit our application by the any of the month any questions for Mr Robin thank you sir Perry technical Cent Mrs Krauss I have no report tonight okay uh see anything under fund advisory I'll take us right to administrative reports um does anybody have any questions for any of our administrators under administrative reports just for the public View and administrative reports are are on online so you can view them any questions anyone I don't have any questions but I'd like to note in Mrs Hobs report um the unpaid lunch debt has gone up instead of going down uh it's up about $5,000 to a total of almost $36,000 of unpaid um school lunches so it might be something that this board wants to address soon and get that down to a manageable level $36,000

058is pretty unacceptable anybody else have any comments for uh just a comment ment on Mrs Graham's report um I just wanted to commend you on graduation um it was a fantastic evening um I just so respect the relationship you have with the students I enjoyed watching them get their diplomas but I also enjoyed watching them interact with you so Kudos is on a great graduation I'm going to put a couple of the administrators on the spot I guess cuz we usually don't have an audience so I'll let them talk a little bit um Mr Kad are you over there no he's not okay well we have the vice principal would you like to say anything about your end of the year can you come to the mic please I think things went really well at

059the end of the year um our third graders did a building walk through as it said in our report um where the rest of the building spent them off um it's a great time for them to get to see their prior teachers I'm here tonight um and other students that they know in the building we also have the high school students do a walk through um our younger kids love sending them off seeing them in their caps and gowns and seeing where they dream to be in a few years from now so it's a great end of year thank you m uh Mr Brewer you want to talk a little bit about your end of the year please so um we ended our year in the same way we usually do and that is the

060celebration of our students and their academic achievement throughout the school year uh as noted in my report we recognized over 100 middle school students um for their academic excellence and achievement throughout the school year and it was uh finalized by the um the hard workor and dedication of our our teachers and staff in creating the uh famous um DVD uh viewing which focuses on our students and the activities that they did throughout the school year um and we take a lot of pride in having a picture of almost every student in the Middle School in that presentation so very well received by the students and the parents that do it thank you sir thank you Mrs Graham I if you have any comments but I did want to congratulate the four students that uh obtained

061their Global seal Byer [Music] you have any comments and Mrs Graham if you can speak into the mic so we can pick it up on YouTube I can do that thank you um since you B up the global seal we actually had with us tonight our student we had our first seal issued last year yir [Applause] and what Global Shield does it recognizes um the accomplishments of our bilingual students um they have to attain a certain score on the AP exam or um another National level exam and also show Proficiency in English um and that um allows them to be credential and could um lead to some some employment opportunities uh also to Echo um Mrs Halal we did have a great graduation and that really takes a team that's not just me it's teachers

062students parents the elementary that walk through when we take the graduates um down to the elementary schools in their csing GS and they get to walk through that's need for our little caners to be part of that as well and we had successful one of the year um it's crazy with all of our AP tests Keystone exams um and I did mention board report I would like to thank um Mr proin is here facili getting everything ready and also Mr pantell um to make sure that our technology is running for the testing that is pretty high States and the computer collection so thank you thank you Mrs [Applause] Graham I see Mr Graham isn't here so uh just off of his report I'd like to congratulate uh uh to the softball players uh that were

063voted All Conference by the yaaa division for coaches and that was Sydney mclea pitcher of the Year Alexis picket catcher Olivia Miller infield Kierney wagle Outfield and Ken schaer Coach of the Year also congratulations to coach Eric Johnson of the bville varsity baseball team for winning the yai daa division for sportsmanship award and this this this is voted by the coaches in the division uh just some things on there so everybody's aware make it U out loud is sports physicals are scheduled for the 24 25 year uh those dates are June 11th and June 25th uh from 1: to 300 p.m. football practice starts on August 5th as heat acclamation and the first legal practice is August 12 does anyone have any else anything else for any of the administrators okay that will take us

064to the superintendent report Dr do just a few things to share I do want to thank all of the uh the School District staff teachers administrators School directors and any person that provides any kind of service to the uum school district it begins with students getting picked up in the morning on buses we have a number of things that could potentially go wrong throughout the day it's amazing how we're able to manage to continually provide food to students get them here as safely as possible and home as safely as possible and that doesn't happen just with one person it really does take a community to make that work so I'm very grateful for the upper Adam School District Community for making that continue to happen we had a great 2023 24 school year a few

065updates we are still waiting to hear and I'm assuming that this will happen once the budget at the state level is passed the prek counts Grant application we have submitted that we're just waiting to hear um when we are awarded that money um we were able to see the last day of school I had a picture of my report uh from the last day of school at the prek counts classroom and there was a picnic that was held afterwards I think there were about 60 people that attended parents um students family members Etc we have about we have 17 students in that class I did also include my report the Lincoln Intermediate Unit executive director is going to be retiring his last day uh he will be stepping down January the 3rd of 2025 so

066they are actively working on a um process for searching the new candidate who will be the executive director at her IU and I included a timeline in my report for what that will look like it's been a busy end it seemed like we were handing out diplomas at the last um you know last day of school and a few days later we were actually back at it our administrative team met and we had started planning for the 2425 school year I listed a few of the things that we did um work on we did review our Pennsylvania youth survey the pay survey we did look at legal updates any legal updates that that um are currently taking place throughout the state of Pennsylvania we did some training on communication we also did the Pennsylvania school

067safety Institute at psba we went through a full day of training there for safety uh we had WellSpan come in and talk a little bit about techniques and options for uh personal health uh we also had the Pennsylvania principales Association uh Dr Eric ashbach who was a former superintendent here is now the executive director and he actually came back to do some school leadership training with our entire team uh we did wrap up with some artificial intelligence training through um people from the Intermediate Unit or Lincoln Intermediate Unit and uh I think that was very eye opening and beneficial to our team cumber and Perry just very quickly as the last item um Cumberland Perry I know that Mrs Krauss mentioned she didn't have a report that their meeting I believe is on June the

06824th and um they are currently looking at options for the construction project that they are working towards at Cumberland Perry uh the bids came in they were over in their bids and they're looking at what options in order to move forward they're looking to increase if you've never been to Cumberland Perry I would I would invite anyone to go see what offerings they have at Cumberland Perry um they are looking at increasing the size of the footprint and potentially adding some more courses there Cumberland Perry to hopefully increase the number of students that we can admit to that particular facility so I think they're looking to increase it by about 200 I think about 230 okay 230 so um we'll keep you posted on that because it does impact our students our students do extremely

069well well at cumland Perry and they have secured some very um lucrative jobs um there's definitely a need uh for all the programs that they offer C and Perry and um again if you haven't been there I would definitely invite you to go visit at some point that's my report any questions for Dr do thank you sir that will take us to Treasures report Mr Walmer okay I'd like to make a motion to approve items 12. .1 12.2 and 12.3 and these consist of the financial report ending May 31st 20124 the condensed board summary report ending May of 2024 the Food Service fund statement of Opera of operations ending uh May 31st 2024 and the Student Activity fund ending 53124 second second motion and second any questions can we have a roll call please Mrs

070kuss yes Miss Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr Wile yes Miss Young cover yes Mr lady I thank you it will take us to the consent agenda is there anything want to consent agend that anyone would like to pull out before we ask for a motion is there a motion to appr approve the consent agenda so move second sorry who was first somebody down thank you motion a second any questions we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic yes Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr Wile yes m j cover yes Mr Lady by thank you one second that will take us to committee reports uh Finance again Mr Walmer thank you Mr President I'll start out

071on item 14.11 14.11 and I'll make a motion to the board to approve the fiscal year 25 budget and the resolutions uh attached the current real estate tax is 15. 638 83% and this motion includes a 0% tax increase for the next fiscal year this is on revenues of 34,1 13,744 and expenditures at 36,3 15,2 $32 a second you have a motion a second any questions Mrs Halal or Mrs Halal not you Mrs Hobbs do you have some comments yes I just wanted to um let the board know we talked about two weeks ago about State risk and in the budget we haven't heard any updates for the fiscal year 25 just just to let you know of a risk that we currently have regarding the fiscal year 24 budget um we were just notified

072last week that our transportation subsidy we are not receiving that fully um at June 30th they are only funding about 38% of our of the remaining balance so we received about $127,000 we will not receive the other funds until the state budget is passed so once again the state budget may be passed it's a shortfall and it's just a CLE thing that's happening with the state budget so once again we as a board you are taking on risk and we discussed that at the last meeting so I just wanted to let everyone know about an happening that is impacting the fiscal year 24 we will get the funds we just had to wait for the state budget do you have any indications or Insight crystal ball related to the state budget passing no I've heard

073nothing yeah it's been quiet and remind me when what month was it past last year was it SE September December we had two we had a some in I want to say September and December okay was the last portion of the budget like 75% of the budget was done and then the other 25% was in December December okay thank you any other questions or [Music] comments can we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wiel yes Miss youngan cover yes Mr lady hi thank you okay moving down the list item 14.1 point2 is uh make a motion to approve the fiscal year 25 Homestead Farmstead exclusion resolution and the uh resolution is attached in the agenda second

074is that you Mr H yes thank you questions or comments on that we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr Wile yes Miss Johan cover yes Mr lady hi thank you item 14.1 point3 um this Rel relates to uh agage increases for FAL year 25 and um support staff is going to see an increase a coal increase of 3.2% this is a motion on making uh plus a merit increase being compensated for the um fiscal year 23 uh evaluations this increase covers 32 employees the the sum cost of this increase is $50,000 9315 over the fiscal year 24 um rate uh rates uh there's also an extra day for support staff uh that um that will be incorporated

075into fiscal year 25 under act 93 this is administrative staff increases include a cola a cola increase of 3.2% plus a merit increase being compensated for the uh fiscal year 23 evaluation the increase covers 10 employees The increased cost over the prior fiscal year is $52,800 over the calendar year of 2023 uh I'll note too that uh Dr do has met this board's expectations and I think there was a consensus uh that we appreciate a service and overall we think he's doing good job for the district [Applause] uh the business administrator contract uh was previously approved on April 16th and it'll be effective at the start of next fiscal year which is July 1st 2024 and that is my long motion second any questions comments we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M

076Jalal yes Mrs tal yes Mr lustic hi Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wiel yes M Young cover yes Mr lady hi thank you uh before you keep going there uh can I remind all board members to please speak into the mic uh they're not hearing us on YouTube and up here are you able to hear me down here thank you yeah we can hear you okay okay we'll move on then to item 14.1 point4 and this is the fiscal year 25 upper Adam School District support salary uh Matrix and and that Matrix is attached Can U Mrs Hobs can you just give us a brief overview of this Matrix sure the Matrix that's in your packet or attached to the agenda this is um we created job family several years ago so this

077is just when the increases happen each year we update those what we would consider looking at for the starting rates the mid point and the maximums so it's just a guideline as we go through and hire new support staff as needed thank you you need a second second Motion in a second is any questions roll call please Mrs Krauss yes Miss Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr letic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wle yes Miss John cover yes Mr lady I thank you okay item 14.1 point5 is um information regarding Kelly education year in review by Mrs Hobbs so tonight I'm not going to pull it up for the sake of time you all have it attached in your agenda but I just want to point your attention to um one or

078two slides that's in your PowerPoint and that's going to be slide uh six and seven and we talked about Kelly education so those that are unfamiliar with Kelly education they provide support staff permanent support staff in some of our buildings they also provide our our substitutes for professional and also for the support staff um so we have entered in a contract this is probably our third year going into a contract working with them and what I'm really happy to report this evening is our data from 2223 compared to 2324 our fill rates meaning that we're receiving substitutes for those individuals that are requesting off whether for personal um vacation or sick time that rate has increased so the fill rate has increased from 2223 to 2324 almost by 5% so I'm really happy to share

079that news and you know have Kelly education as a partner for us and you can see that data like I said on slides six and seven um within your PowerPoint so I just wanted to point that out and thank those that are substitutes and if you're interested IM me substitute we can get you in touch okay thank you and we'll move on to item 14.1 point6 and this is again referencing Kelly Education Services and make a motion to uh approve the pricing for Educational Staffing effective July 1st 2024 and the um the update is attached in in the agenda there's no there's no price increases is that there is price increasing there is yes so um the support staff um receive almost like the same increase that our support staff here at the district receives

080so the 3.2% cola and Merit and they are tiers so any individual that's hired this year will have a different rate than the individuals that have been with us through the Kelly education and even when we transitioned from um ESS our day-to-day Subs that rate stay the same our building Sub in rate has increased second any other questions roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr Wile yes Miss Jan cover yes Mr lady hi thank you okay item 14.1 point7 uh this is a request from Kelly Educational Services uh to add an additional personal care assistant to the Kelly educational contract and this position will be funded by bermudan Springs so I'll make a motion second we have a motion a

081second any questions we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr letic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr Wile yes Miss Young C yes Mr lady hi thank you item 14.1 point8 make a motion uh to approve the fiscal year 25 udica National Insurance uh group renewal the amount of 9,550 this is an increase over last fiscal year of $110,100 $1,123 second motion and a second any questions or comments is that just a normal increase or is there claims no we had no claims this is just our annual renewal any other questions roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr luste I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr Wile yes Miss youngan cover yes Mr lady thank you okay item

08214.1 point9 make a motion to approve the fiscal year 25 Travelers cyber Insurance total cost of this insurance is $11,950 and there is no increase over last fiscal year second motion a second any questions roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs holl yes Mr altic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr Wile yes Miss Heather Young cover sorry yes M or Mr lady hi thank you okay item 14.1 point10 make a motion to approve the fiscal year 25 Solarity tnm rate for the attached document the yearly cost is $3,600 and there's no increase over last fiscal year second motion a second any questions or comments what is it what is this related to this is for our fiber that runs between the building so Mr Cantell can you add a little

083bit to that please sorry good evening uh the Solarity agreement is the private fiber between Biglerville Elementary um Upper Adams intermediate school and the fiber that comes into the high school um this agreement uh covers any accidents that happen on the poles uh leading to the the facilities so if something happens we call Solarity they come out they splice the fiber back together and restore connectivity thank you thank you any other questions for Mr Krell while he's up here we have a motion in a second can we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wiel yes Miss youngan cover yes Mr lady all thank you item 14.11 make a motion to approve the fiscal year 25 language instruction

084education program per the attached document and and this does not obligate upper Adam School District to uh impude employ the IU for ESL instructions instruction uh but essentially it does put them on retainer for the year um and should should there be a student that's placed uh in alternative school and requires these Services second motion a second any questions or comments we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic hi Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wle yes Miss J cover yes Mr lady thank you okay item 14.12 make a motion to approve the fiscal year 25 new story uh School service agreement for the attached doc document second motion to Second any questions [Music] comments roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs

085Halal yes Mr letic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wiel yes Miss Young cover yes Mr lady I thank you item .13 move to approve the fiscal year 25 Chef agreement for the attached document this agreement is paid from transition funds second M second any questions comments have a roll call please Mrs pruss yes Mr Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr letic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wiel yes Miss Jan cover yes Mr Lady by thank you okay item 14.14 make a motion to approve the fiscal year 25 Liu bid summary for the attached document this represents a decrease of $3,415 3 over the prior fiscal year uh and this is due to uh no Ward listed for uh health for health and trainer supplies second Motion in a second

086any questions or comments roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr ltic hi Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wall yes Miss youngan cover yes Mr lady thank you okay item 14.15 I'll make a motion to approve Claire Roberts as the summer technology intern replacing Alexandria Keel um and this was is this retroactive to to April no we were just referencing when um when the other summer intern was approved I see okay I'll take a second on that second thank you we have a motion and second any questions comments can she do the job Mr Cantrell all right we got a thumbs upk you we have a roll call please Mrs CR yes M Jal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmart yes Mr

087wio yes Miss Young cover yes Mr lady I thank you okay the last item under Finance is item 14.16 and this is a discussion regarding Independence Law Center at the at the request request of Mr lustic I can I can start it off Lauren if you'd like I'm sorry can you speak up Sure hold on okay first I'd like to apologize to ilc for the disrespectful what I thought was disrespectful and unprofessional comments made by Mr lady when he referred to them as three witches over a pot he certainly doesn't speak for me and I believe he has a responsibility to set a better example as board president I believe comments like this coupled with Dr doll's Behavior have only spurred on the behavior that this board has been subjected to over the past few

088weeks I believe Mr lady is aware that there are issues and choosing to Simply ignore them certainly doesn't make them go away regardless school districts retain additional legal counsel in the normal course of business and fairly consist consistently in fact on tonight's agenda the board discussed retaining another firm in the event that stock and leader had a conflict in addition I questioned legal fees to yet another law firm in a March meeting and was told that they were for special counsel it's a common practice uh K Used an example that stock and leader was a general contractor and there was no need for additional counsel but quite clearly that is not District practice I also believe we've established that stock and leader there there are certain um controversial topics that either they do not have

089the desire to address or they don't have the expertise and I believe that that leaves us ill prepared I think a better analogy would be that we shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket and I it could not be clearer to me that we need ilc as a supplement to stock and [Applause] leader I actually have a few words as well if I may um first of all good evening and I want to thank everyone for their voices and emails uh regarding the issues that we've been going over for the last few months um it has been quite an impressive outpouring and I have listened to every public comment and read every email um I have taken everything I've heard and read to heart and have kept an open mind to all the information

090that's been provided to us um I also listened to the ilc with an equally open mind and I was impressed with their presentation and their answers to the questions asked of them by many of you who are present here today um to me their presentation was logical and stated a lot of uh common sense I have found it to be I found it to be in my own life experience that if I need to make a decision in an area that I am not an expert it is a good idea to get as many opinions as I can even if the person is someone that I don't particularly agree with I will even go so far as to say especially if I don't particularly agree with them I have found that this either confirms my

091initial decision or it brings to light information that I may not have otherwise known I also want to say that there's plenty there's many times when there been public comment where I felt like I I feel like there's been a lot of misinformation regarding policies and information that has been given to the community and a whole um I'm not exactly sure where this misinformation is coming from or what the agenda behind the misinformation is but the fact of the matter is it seems to me when I'm listening to people speak that it seems as though there's a disconnect in the information that we have in the information that everybody else in this room seems to be getting uh I don't know exactly why and I don't know exactly where that is coming from um but

092um all that being said I was on the fence about how to vote because of all of the perceived opposition however I recently received a paper in my merchandiser holder with a picture of six of the board members on including myself except myself was circled with three lovely letters WTF and a question mark that very same evening a neighbor reached out to me saying that they had received a letter in the mail with the school's return address on the envelope stating that I was on the school board and considering retaining ilc which would almost certainly raise our taxes the letter implored them to email me implored my neighbors to email me and make my time less easy or even pop in for a visit I was their neighbor after all needless to say I did

093go up and talk to some of my neighbors apparently not all of them and uh I might have an idea where that letter came from now but I'm just saying but I don't know um I'm pretty sure it didn't imagine that I I'm pretty sure it did not come from the school but imagine um my surprise when the neighbor I did talk to said they were actually oblivious to any of the recent school board events I explained that board meetings have become quite Lively lately and encouraged them to go and watch them especially the presentation by ilc my neighbor thanked me for their representation and being willing to serve on the school board and being willing to make tough decisions I was overwhelmed by the support and encouraged to make the community aware and informed

094on Schoolboard events I've actually ALS recently talked to other people who have informed me of them signing the petition I'm sure their signatures are on that where after they talked to me and got some of the information that they did not were not aware of previously wished that they could resend those signatures I'm just putting this out there I really want to thank whoever did drop that paper in my picture and and whoever was responsible for sending the letters to my neighbors because um they're sorry my eyes are very old I doubt it has made me aware that although there has been an outcry by a few individuals that the vast majority of the Upper Adams taxpayers are unaware of this plus they were quite supportive the ones that I did actually talk to in

095fact the most common statement that I have heard is well that's what I voted for you for I have since come to the conclusion that in all fairness I am here to do the job that I was elected to [Applause] do if I may if I may many questions were asked of me of why I reached out to them back in the fall and there was before I was sworn in and I really didn't know all the ins and outs and I wasn't even sure if I could I didn't even know what a solicitor was to be honest and I had some questions I I had been living in I had been living in France you know for the past 10 years and I was watching a lot of what was going on with school

096boards um when I was there and I saw that you know parents were um going to school board meetings and uh actually pulling shity bonds and things like that and I wanted to know what you know what my role was with that like what would I do if um like I just had some questions about that and especially in my role as a mandated reporter because I am an an educator and so that's really what I reached out to them about and uh they said well in Pennsylvania bonds really aren't an issue um but here are some of the policies that we've done for other schools and uh I was sent three policies done by Red Lion or for Red Lion and I read them over very very carefully Y and it to me it

097just seemed so clear and so fair there were three different policies and it really took into consideration the feelings of everyone involved on on uh many sides of the issue and I think Clarity is charity and right now we don't have clear policies and that's why I'm in favor of voting for and retaining uh for Independence Law Center because the policies are clear and fair and that's where my heart [Applause] is Maria I'm sorry Maria can you tell me specifically which policies you're looking at that you would like to bring here here um the the policies are they're um for Red Line I don't have the number right on me right now but one of one of them would have to do with um social transitioning you know like keeping parents involved and because a

098lot of parents are concerned I think that parents are the primary educators of their children and that would be a big concern I think parents need to be involved in any important decisions and in some states such as California uh there is a policy to go ahead and socially transition students and keep it a secret from parents and that is very concerning parents should be involved in any important decision um another part of the um policy is for you know the use of bathrooms so it would be sex based rather than gender based that parents could be just saying not every par right there are kids I'm a kid my parents aren't right board members only thank you I was asked what policies they were I'm giving that answer Mr President I'd have a comment

099please good take I want to thank Miss dual for being willing to stand up for the well-being of our students no matter what the cost I applaud your courage Your Loving Care and your complete and absolute concern for all the students of upper Adam School District can we get back to that third one stop please you have security right there he's cursing in front of my child what time do you have making his way down he's making his way over there he's making his way over there good could I have the third policy I I'm I'm going to refrain from comment because of the behavior of the group Mr lady Mr lady if I could have some comments please good Mr H thank you um thank you for allowing me a few minutes it's already

100a very full agenda and I know everyone's tired of listening to it all I would just like to thank those of you on both sides who have emailed messaged texted visited our place of business to talk to me about these matters I appreciate it very much I tried to respond to each of you if I missed any of you I apologize I don't like confrontation I don't like conflict I've spent my entire career in HR and helping people get along keeping employees happy treating them fairly and getting along so this is very difficult for me and I'm going to try to get through it and I apologize if anyone one is offended at our committee meeting on 6424 the independence Law Center presented an overview of their firm and how and in what ways they

101might Advantage us prior to their speaking Mr Jaa made some comments in introduction and I felt compelled to respond to some of her remarks as well as shed some of my additional thoughts on the ilc she said that shared that upper Adam school district has no clear policies on how to approach differences in fact our district has over 250 policies and they are reviewed on a regular schedule depending upon input from psba Andor issues that might arise that require our attention if we have questions that require legal input Dr do reaches out to attorney pahala at stock and leader there is a monthly policy meeting to review policy the statement we have no clear policies on how to approach our differences is not correct currently we have a lot of differences that we didn't have

102prior to January of this year we do review policies such that we can address concerns and differences and come up with new amended policies if necessary that's what a policy committee is for Mr Jaa stated that we reached out to the ilc who is we I was not part of the Wii and I would like the public record to reflect that I was not part of the Wii she went on to State we are interested in retaining them as special counsel again I am not part of the Wii I believe there are others at this table who were not included in that Wii and in fact Mr Jaa herself reached out to ilc Prior which she just stated uh prior to even being sworn in as a new board member I have to question what

103agenda there was even prior to the first meeting I question whether or not Mr jaal's interests as well as the others who are part of the week aren't focusing on one or two hot button issues not what their responsibility should be disharmony is occurring where there was Harmony prior to January it saddens me that we have spent so much time and energy on issues that were not a problem prior to the swearing in of the new board members in December we need to get back to taking care of the students all students regardless of our personal beliefs we did solemnly swear that we would uphold the Constitution of the United States when each of us took our oath I took that oath seriously updates to Title 9 were just recently released by The Biden Administration

104it is a 1600 page document that Gareth shared had not been completely digested yet by stock and leader he stated that his firm was pouring through the pages and they were PR preparing policy to share with us how is it that four individuals who make up the law firm of ilc have already read dig Ed and are prepared to offer counsel and to help us write new policy that will protect us I am inclined to believe that they have written what pleases them and their donors and who are the donors no one from ilc is willing to release that information it begs me to make this hypothetical example I have paid all my necessary bills for the month I have have a bit of money left over and perhaps I wish to donate to a

105favorite charity Habitat for Humanity and Gift of Life come to mind mind both organizations that re readily help people in need no I think I'll make a donation to a pro bono Law Firm who does that someone who supports the agenda of the ilc I fear in this case this particular Law Firm is being supported by those who wish to discriminate discriminate against some people as a School director for a public school I am to represent all children all it doesn't matter what I might think personally I question that all directors are feeling the same way thank you Mr Mr lady i' I'd like to speak go ahead Mr CR um first I'd like to thank everyone who did send emails I have looked at them I've looked at the public comments and I do

106appreciate everything that everyone has shared uh I don't want to repeat what has been said uh because many of you said it very eloquently um the first thing I will say though um I was trying to count some of my emails and keep a tally and I had probably 60 to 65 emails plus public comments and when I look at them there are two Communications that were against um I that were against policy 109.2 and in favor of engaging with ilc now having heard some conversations here tonight there appear to be people who disagree but those emails have not come to the whole board so we don't know how many people disagree I can tell you 60 plus have written to um not engage with EC or do not change 109.2 and I want to

107just re remind everybody here of something um as school board members we are elected at large which means the nine of us represent everyone in the district you know some school districts have Wards or certain areas but we do not here so um as previous board members have told me everyone who voted we we represent everyone who voted for us we also represent everyone who did not vote for us we also vote we represent people who did not vote at all we represent everyone in the district if I look at the emails that I've seen and received it's almost 95% against ilc um I'll go on I I firmly believe stock and leader is our solicitor and I believe that we would get the support we need from them um um the other thing I

108will throw out there I think this this board you know as they've come on and and are learning what to do with uh business of the board you know there have been times when we've been asked the Administration has been asked to go back and find more information so maybe this is an opportunity to look at that as well ilc is not the only game in town it apparently is not well loved here but there are other law firms that offer uh counseling in some of the policies that have been discussed um and I'll just end it with um I do not want to vote for ilc and my vote will be no in that option thank you [Applause] I would like to say a few things first of all if uh anyone was offended

109by what I said at the last meeting I'm sorry but I'm not sorry I still stand by what I [Applause] said I would like to say I do believe this board right now is at a troubled place I do think policy 109 started it I think this board from what I've seen written as far as the policy 109 can work through that policy I believe there is some common ground and we can work through it I don't believe we need second council at this time right now we don't have any policies facing us we don't have a problem facing us and that we would require second counsel I don't think we do I think we can work through 109 if there's some things on the horizon if we hit a a wall and we can't

110get through it and we have to request second counsel and so be it then we request it then I'm a little troubled as to why ilc was reached out to you know early on there is other options out there there is other even pro bono options out there so I'm asking you know could we look at another option um you know there is things that are at risk you know there is federal funding I don't think people realize how much money comes into this school from federal funding $1.5 million we get rid of $1.5 million that's free and reduced lunches how's that affect our community and that's a a tax that could be a a Max tax increase to our school district and we there would still be a shortfall and we would never recover

111that money they're just things I'm throwing out there and to end I would like to say again as someone else said I received a lot of emails I do apologize to everybody for not responding I'm not a good email person so I apologize in advance but they were all read and they were from both sides and I did read all of them and and studied all of them and I appreciate everyone's comments whichever side they came from so thank you [Applause] president goad Mr L yes thank you uh per our previous agreement and according to Robert's Rules of Order I will now call the question and request a motion on the ilc matter thank you and your motion would be I'm not making a motion I'm just calling the question if I have to make

112a motion then I my motion will be to uh accept the opportunity to uh affiliate with ilc thank you at this time I don't believe we can accept that motion cuz we have not seen the contract retention agreement it has not been sent out to all the board members the attention agreement was never sent out to all board members it does have to be public per policy to the public 24 hours in advance of the meeting the the contract has never been sent transc who has it you can you have it no I don't have it could get it on agenda nobody ever got it I don't have it how do you put it on the gend we don't have it pleas send it out to all I thought she sent it everyone I asked

113my PL down tell me PL down [Music] security do we have a motion in a second on the floor here is there a motion in a second there is a motion is there a second a second for what we don't have a contract yeah we don't have a contract so we can't vote we can still vote to retain without knowing what we're voting on we voted before on things and then we've gotten the contract later we still don't have the AAR contract have to read L on you g excellent point yeah TP typically as we saw tonight our contracts are attached for U public review I noted when I looked at the agenda it was listed here as a discussion item um it is correct there noted typically the contracts as you've seen tonight with

114all the other contracts are attached to the agenda as a matter of Sunshine for public review and comment it could be attached subsequently for public uh review if the board would wish to do that uh but I would concur it is typical practice best practice to attach any letter engagement or contract or agreement uh to the agenda for uh public review and public comment so are you saying we cannot vote on retaining ilc I'm saying there's a motion and a second on the floor to engage with them I don't know if the the motion is to um bring the engagement forward for ratification at the next meeting to engage them immediately or what Mr lusik had in mind when he made the motion all right uh I'll respond to that uh I uh would um

115make my motion to engage immediately to use your quote right now sir engage immediately second okay and and that'll mean to engage and get a contract and post it online for the next board meeting is is that the definition of Engagement how far does engagement go yeah I would recommend in that case that the uh we get an updated engagement letter with the fresh date that it be attached to this agenda manager for public review and that we allow any for as it would always be the case allow for any additional comment on that at the next meeting my bottom line point is I think that contract engagement letter to be more accurate should be attached and made available for public view I will accept that Mr President as a friendly amendment to my motion

116and I'll ask for a comment from the seconder whoever that seconder is Mr ja I'm not sure what we're voting on not retain to retain to retain and then attach yes yes that I would put forward retain is not is not the word I don't we want to engage engage engage engage fine engage I second I second the let's vote to engage to engage let's vote to engage discussion do you have a motion a second on the floor to engage is there any other discussion roll call please Mrs Krauss no Miss Jalal yes Mrs Halal no Mr lustic I Mrs absolutely yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wigel yes Miss Jung cover yes Mr lady [Music] no everybody thank thank you very much is that all Mr wmer that's all Mr President all right thank you

117that'll take us to Personnel Mrs PL all right item 14.2.2 point1 recommend approval to hire the following professional staff Hannah rits learning support teacher Upper Adams Middle School instructional one step two $ 56414 beginning 2024 2025 school year replacing David Toller uh Dr Heather swo school guidance counselor big liberal High School Masters plus 30 step 9 75 $ 5,114 with an additional 18 days at a per DM rate effective pending new hire paperwork and a mutually agreed upon start date for 2024 2025 school year replacing Danielle warer second motion and a second any questions or comments yeah so do we do like exit interviews as people are leaving the school yes we also do a stay survey so as staff comes on board we follow up with them to see how things are going to

118get feedback Mr President I could not hear what was said uh uh by the last two commentators no you want to repeat your question please sure I'm not sure if it's working but I just asked if we do uh exit interviews as uh staff is leaving or going somewhere else and I shared yes we do we do an exit survey and we also do what they call a a stay survey so we um gather feedback with how things are transitioning with a new employee coming into our district and if someone is leaving we also gather feedback that way as well thank [Music] you push them out to the hole please any other questions or comments we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank

119I'm going to abstain on Dr Heather Swope but yes for Hannah rits standing on Dr Heather SW correct correct okay there's a form that if you could please complete that Mr Walmer yes Mr wiel yes Miss Young cover yes Mr lady I thank you item 14.2.2 point2 recommend approval of the following professional resignations Kirsty Smith English language ARS teacher Upper Adams Middle School effective June 30th 2024 Sharon Kaa Spanish teacher big Lio High School effective 531 second a motion and a second any questions or comments R have roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr Wile yes yes Miss Young cover yes Mr lady I thank you item 14. 2.2.3 uh recommend approval of the following professional post and advertise English

120language arts teacher Upper Adams Middle School and math teacher Upper Adams Middle School anticipated opening second second motion and a second any questions or comments we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes Mr Jal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wiel yes Miss Young cover yes Mr lady hi thank you item 14. 2.4.2 supplemental contracts recommend approval of the following 2024 2025 supplemental contracts educational Daniel mford induction inductee $250 Robert dwire induction Mentor for Daniel Mumford $450 Hannah wries induction inductee $250 Sarah Franks induction Mentor for Hannah rits $450 Bonnie a informal Mentor for Heather Swope $200 and Betsy showers informal Mentor for Nicole stz $200 second motion a second questions have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr

121lustic I Mrs plank I Mr Walmer yes Mr wigle yes Miss Young cover yes Mr lady hi thank you item 14. 2.4.3 recommend approval of the following 2024 2025 supplemental contracts other Student Activities Quaid swager color guard instructor Category 3 5 years $2,983 85% William HS color guard instructor Category 3 year 1 $451 15% Alissa Carter assistant marching band director instructor sorry Category 2 year 1 $3,588 so moved motion a second questions roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr altic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wiel yes Miss Young cover yes Mr lady hi thank you item 14. 2.5 recommend approval to add the following individuals to the volunteer list Scott Howell second motion and a second any questions we have a roll call please Mrs Krauss

122yes M Jalal yes Mrs H yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr Wile yes Miss Young cover yes Mr ladyy hi thank you item 14.2 6.1 add the following individuals to the other contracted Services error mark employee listing Rachel n custodian effective 618 second motion a second questions roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wiel yes Miss Johan CER yes Mr lady I thank you item 14.26 .3 recommend approval of the following changes to the employee listing for other contracted Services GDC technology Peter freas remove second could we add with regret to that motion and a second any other comments or questions roll call please Mrs Krauss yes Mr Jal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic

123I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wle yes Miss John cover yes Mr lady I thank you I believe that's all for personnel thank you Mrs plank uh property Heather Young cover yeah presentation of air AAR client Business Review by Craig profen aark facility management good evening everyone thank you for giving me an opportunity to do a review of the services that Mark has provided for the last four months um we like to do quarterly reviews do them at least three times a year so um hopefully everybody's had an opportunity to take a look at the uh presentation that we sent out had listed I don't want to walk through all 57 slides I think the pictures are there I think that picture you know speak sell volumes on we do um I just

124wanted to go ahead and just uh review some of the stuff that we've done obviously we're here on a day-to-day basis and we're providing custodial uh while the school's in session we keep the schools clean uh here during the summer we're doing our summer cleans detail cleanings uh our maintenance group has been very busy in going ahead and what they'll be doing over the summer is all the preventive maintenance work that needs to be done we'll be checking all the facilities making any minor repairs or major repairs that might need to be made um what the crew's done uh since uh the last time we had an opportunity to chat uh some of you have been up in the admin Carter so you've noticed the new FFA um plaque display um we proud that we

125had an opportunity to go ahead and put that together that included a little light painting just in case anybody was questioning on that one um in addition to that uh we also did the signage for the dedication of the new Learning Center um we were happy to be involved in that um there have been a lot of repairs that we've made there are things that great we're talking about buildings that are 20 and 30 years old so there always things I'm going to let you look through the presentation and see those things yourself I don't want to go from item for item uh we continue to be involved with the school district when it comes to the end of the school year and the not de training for the shop students to make sure that

126they're all set uh we're proud to be involved in graduation and set up and everything uh to make sure that not only uh everything was set up but also to make sure that the grounds look good as well uh speaking of grounds our ground crew worked very hard during the Spring season every one of the games that we had athletic games Fields were cut before the game were played all the fields were relined all the equipment was properly set up so that when any visiting teams would come uh you know we always show well U I don't know if there's any other questions specifically on that there are some things that we worked on uh we are currently uh finishing up the project on the bridge that goes uh from the rear of the school

127back to the athletic fields uh we haven't painted the new boards yet we have to let them weather a little bit so that uh once they are painted you know we don't have anything that's flaking but other than that uh we're proud of the work that we've been able to do there's a lot of work still to come and I'm available if there's any questions or concerns I just wanted to mention I noticed that plaque right away it was a good job that was a really nice thank you yeah and I and I Ked about the light painting because I came up in a board meeting a few meetings ago you know we're glad to do some of that light painting there's some conversation about some of the dugouts and uh that need to have

128some work done to him so when funds are available go ahead and do that we're glad to go ahead and help out with that as well I will comment that uh I indeed did speak to you privately about painting and I thank you for that uh I also took note at the uh dedication of the learning comons that uh you sir were uh working uh at task that um needed to be done but you were totally out of the Limelight I just was watching you because I wanted to see whether you do that and indeed you did and I thank you you're very welcome that's just part of the job you know it's like when you're walking down the Carter you see piece of trash on the floor you don't walk past it you lean

129down you pick it up it makes a difference which you tell you is you know we're all part of the same team here we're hoping to to Foster you know a good place here for the children that learning Commons uh whole program was extremely outstanding yes I could not come up with one criticism for it and I believe I told Dr Dole that and so if I didn't I'm telling him right that right now thank you yeah very good Mr profet I believe Heather was uh referring to the FFA pictures is that I couldn't compl yes that is correct okay I also want to commend you for that it's a highly agricultural area and it's awfully nice seeing those FFA students up there where they need to be so thank you for that yeah absolutely

130and whenever something like that comes up and there's you know a way in which we could recognize the students you know we certainly want to be part of the team and going ahead and put something together in order to make sure that it displays well so yeah questions yeah I have a question I no have one of the pictures we have locks on the restroom doors can you explain why we have the doors locked open so um we had a request uh we seen in and this may be more of my opinion uh I know that a lot of the facilities are struggling with students that are smoking and vaping inside the restaurant um I work with a lot of other managers and facility directors at a lot of school districts uh within not only

131the state of Pennsylvania but Maryland Delaware and Virginia as well and it's a common problem what a lot of these school districts have done have removed the doors from bathrooms um it was thought that that was maybe a little bit too invasive to do so what we decided to do was uh go ahead and lock the doors open with the ability to go ahead at any time go ahead unlock them and let them close again um we looked at it to make sure that weren't any privacy concerns um but by doing that I think what we've done is two things you know uh We've cut down on any smoking and vaping that's occurred within there I think we've also cut down on uh a lot of students just kind of hanging out in the restrooms

132you know those are areas that we as adults don't go in because we want to have let the children have their privacy um it also is cut down on um vandalism within the restrooms uh you know we do a lot of toilet repair we do a lot of uh repairs uh we have a lot of clogs that happen and great frankly since we've done that uh that's probably cut down by anywhere from 50 to 75% um which is ultimately saving us money here in the district because you know every time we have to pull a toilet or every time we have to go ahead and replace something that's been broken um whether it be accidental or whether it was you know on purpose uh you know we were try to look for ways to save

133money so indeed that that is help there other questions thank for your time tonight good evening thank you thank you Mr PA I believe that's it for property okay thank you Mr J cover that takes the committee reports I don't see anything under curriculum or Athletics so Student Activities Miss Hall um yes I am recommending approval of the following overnight trips a BHS field hockey team Camp from 72124 to 72 424 at Eastern straussburg University the trip is to be financed by the Student Activities account and FFA National Convention 10224 to 10 102524 Indianapolis Indiana the trip is financed by FFA and the individuals attending the convention I reached out to Miss Miller and she said There are 16 um FFA members going as well as herself as a chaperon so that's pretty exciting uh

134B girls basketball team Camp 62024 to 62324 West Virginia University trip to be financed by Student Activities account and the BHS girls soccer team Camp 7724 to 7924 Penn State University trip to be financed by the Student Activities account second have a motion is second any questions or comments have a roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wle yes Miss Young cover yes Mr lady I thank you will take us to policy committee uh Mrs CR there are no first read policies tonight um under second read policies there are four that i' move to approve them uh for second read to move on to be adopted uh effective tomorrow second motion and a second any questions roll call please Mrs

135Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr wiel yes Miss Jan cover yes Mr lady I thank you have anything under miscellaneous uh that'll take us to bills have a motion to approve the bills please so moved second the only thing I have is my usual comment and uh so people understand I always make a comment on what we pay to Charter Schools it's not that I'm against Charter Schools I'm just against of how they're funded so our payment this month to Charter Schools is $ 292,000 $2 26737 have a motion a second any questions or comments roll call please Mrs Krauss yes M Jalal yes Mrs Halal yes Mr lustic I Mrs plank yes Mr Walmer yes Mr Wile yes M youngan cover yes

136Mr lady hi thank you um don't have any old business anyone have any old business we have any new business okay there is no committee meetings next month uh we get a little break and there will be a regular school board meeting on July 18th uh probably here in this room unless notified otherwise at 7 pm. thank you is there a motion to adjourn so move second we are adjourn thank you [Music] everyone e